Monday, February 8, 2016

EPA Pushed on Records for Enlist Duo Herbicide

WASHINGTON (CN) - The Environmental Protection Agency should release
records it generated in approving the Enlist Duo, conservationists say
in a federal complaint, noting that new herbicide contains similar toxic
ingredients as Agent Orange.A product of Dow AgroSciences, the
herbicide Enlist Duo contains glyphosate dimethylammonium salt and
2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid.While Dow's rivals at Monsanto
use the glyphosate ingredient in its weed killer Round Up, the later
ingredient was found in the Agent Orange defoliant used during the
Vietnam War.Glyphosate-resistant super weeds have been
exploding from overuse of glyphosate on crops genetically engineered to
resist the pesticide's effects, so Dow hopes Enlist Duo will fill in the
gaps. Once sprayed, the chemical kills all plants except for corn and
soybean plants that have been engineered to resist it.It's been
over a year since the EPA approved Enlist Duo for use in six states,
and proposed its use in 10 additional states, claiming the herbicide had
no effect on more than 50 endangered and threatened species.The agency reversed course in November 2015, however, after facing legal pressure by environmental groups.In asking the Ninth Circuit to vacate its approval, the EPA claimed
that Dow had provided it with new information, which would require more
stringent restrictions in the use of the herbicide by farmers.Though the Ninth Circuit declined to vacate the order late last month, it told the EPA it could review its own approval.One of the groups opposing approval of Enlist Duo is the Center for Biological Diversity.Facing
two requests for agency records on Enlist Duo under the Freedom of
Information Act, the EPA withheld about 150 records in their entirety,
claiming they were attorney-client privileged and exempt from disclosure
requirements.

The center filed suit in Washington on Wednesday,
contending that EPA officials are "unlawfully withholding" records by
"improperly invoking" FOIA exemptions."After two years of
stalling, sending only heavily redacted records, and ignoring our appeal
for information, EPA has left us with no choice but to go to court to
obtain the records on this deadly chemical," Lori Ann Burd,
environmental health director at CBD, said in a statement.The
lawsuit claims the EPA's own risk assessments of Enlist Duo concluded it
was risky to birds, mammals and plants, but offered no explanation of
benefits that outweighed those risks.